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Meet The Macallan Whisky Mastery Team

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The Macallan Whisky Master Team seamlessly combines innovation with craftsmanship and heritage, continuing the extraordinary commitment to exceptional quality for which The Macallan has been known since 1824. As custodians for The Macallan whisky, the team combines a depth and breadth of skills and experience to drive forward The Macallan legacy for the future. This includes the appointment in September 2019 of whisky expert Kirsteen Campbell as Master Whisky Maker, and the lead of our strengthened Whisky Mastery Team.

Kirsteen works with our Whisky Mastery Team, which has been expanded to deliver the outstanding quality, natural colours and distinctive aromas and flavours that define our world-renowned whisky. Our enhanced Whisky Mastery Team has integrated the role of Master of Wood to reflect the complete whisky making process and the vital influence of wood on the character of The Macallan whisky.

The six-strong Team includes:

Kirsteen Campbell, Master Whisky Maker;

Stuart MacPherson, Master of Wood, who has 40 years’ experience working with The Macallan’s exceptional oak casks;

Sarah Burgess, Lead Whisky Maker;

Polly Logan, Whisky Maker;

Steven Bremner, Whisky Maker;

Russell Greig, Sample Room Assistant.

This team oversees maturation and whisky making working hand in hand from the very beginning of the journey to bring out the best of spirit and wood. It additionally brings together the next generation of whisky makers with The Macallan’s most experienced and skilled craftsmen and women, securing the legacy of almost two centuries of whisky making heritage. As part of this approach, apprentices with natural sensory talent will be recruited into the Whisky Mastery Team, where they will learn the art of whisky making from the breadth and depth of experience within the team.

A moment with Kirsteen Campbell

Kirsteen works tirelessly with the Whisky Master Team to deliver the consistent quality of The Macallan, from the new-make spirit on the Estate to the selection of our sherry-seasoned oak casks. She answers some questions about what it is like to create our whiskies.

What does it take to become a Master Whisky Maker? Aside from an excellent sense of smell, you need to be able to articulate aromas really well, and also understand how flavours come together.

Kirsteen Campbell, Master Whisky Maker

Background

Led by Passion

Originally from Thurso in the Highlands, Kirsteen is the first woman to become The Macallan Master Whisky Maker in its long-standing history spanning almost 200 years. Kirsteen has been working in the industry since 2001, where she initially started in a laboratory responsible for the quality of new make spirits. It was there that she discovered her passion for Scotch whisky and her extraordinary sense of smell, essential attributes for The Macallan Master Whisky Maker.

From there Kirsteen continued to develop and grow in her unique skill-set and fascination with the world of whisky. She joined Edrington, parent company of The Macallan in 2007 as a Whisky Quality Technologist and progressed her career over the years to become Master Blender for Naked Grouse and The Famous Grouse. She holds a Diploma in Distilling and has also previously worked at the Scotch Whisky Research Institute.